Midland evicts homeless group from Southside

By Cale Ottens | cottens@mrt.com

Published 5:13 pm, Friday, January 17, 2014

Photo: JAMES DURBIN

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Homeless residents of a vacant lot on Baird and Washington pack their belongings after the City of Midland declared they must vacate the lot they were camping on and move elsewhere Friday. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram less

Homeless residents of a vacant lot on Baird and Washington pack their belongings after the City of Midland declared they must vacate the lot they were camping on and move elsewhere Friday. James ... more

Photo: JAMES DURBIN

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Tracy Evans packs items into a suitcase after the City of Midland declared that the homeless presence in the area of Baird and Washington must vacate the lot they were camping on and move elsewhere Friday. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Tracy Evans packs items into a suitcase after the City of Midland declared that the homeless presence in the area of Baird and Washington must vacate the lot they were camping on and move elsewhere Friday.

A group of about six homeless people who have been living in tents near Baird Street and Washington Avenue since Jan. 11 have been asked by the city to move after several nearby residents started complaining.

City officials told the group they had 24 hours to evacuate the property, which is owned by the Amistad Christian Fellowship, according to Evan Rogers, who founded the Church Under the Bridge, which uses Amistad Christian Fellowship’s land to provide Saturday church services to less fortunate and homeless people in the area.

Amistad Christian Fellowship has allowed the homeless people to stay on the land, but nearby residents complained about the sanitary issues that have arisen, Rogers said.

The 24-hour deadline was at 6 p.m. Friday, according to Rogers.

“If they don’t leave at 6 p.m., the city will probably fine them $500 a day,” he said earlier Friday.

But Sara Higgins, a city spokeswoman, said there are no plans to actually fine the homeless. Technically, the city could fine them, but officials are just asking that they find somewhere else to stay, she said.

Rogers met with an official from the city Friday morning and was provided a few phone numbers of places that might provide the homeless with temporary housing.

“I’m very impressed with how the city has handled this,” Rogers said.

The numbers were given to another Church Under the Bridge board member, he said, but it doesn’t seem like there is a place for the homeless to go immediately.

The group is looking for a vacant building to stay so they can avoid living outside in the cold weather.

“It’s pretty bad,” said Tracy Evans, a 44-year-old Odessa native who said she has been homeless on-and-off throughout her adult life. “They just don’t want to address the homeless problem in this town.”

Evans said she works Sundays selling copies of the Reporter-Telegram on a street corner. She makes $1 for each paper sold if she sells more than 50 copies, or 90 cents a copy if she sells fewer than that, she said. She can make anywhere from $20 to a little over $200.

Evans said she wants to go to Austin, where there is more help for homeless people,.

Chloe Dow said she drove about 40 miles from Gardendale to bring the homeless group water and snacks after she heard on Facebook about what was happening.

“People pick up little homeless dogs all the time,” Dow said, “But what about people? These people are working; they just can’t afford a place to live.”

Rogers was at the site just before 6 p.m. Friday to help move some of the group’s belongings with a truck, while a white pickup that was labeled as a city vehicle drove past the area several times.

The group will start living at a new location, which was not disclosed to the media, and the site at Baird Street and Washington Avenue will be cleaned up today when Church Under the Bridge meets for its weekly service, Rogers said.